Price tag for the American dream? $130,357 a year

9:44 PM,
Jul. 6, 2014

An analysis by USA Today shows that living the American dream would cost the average family of four about $130,000 a year. Only 16 million U.S. households ? around one in eight ? earned that much in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Written by

Howard R. Gold
Special to USA Today

No idea is more central to Americans' outlook than the American dream - the belief that with hard work and the freedom to pursue your destiny you can achieve success and provide better opportunities for your children.

Historian John Truslow Adams, who coined the term, called it "the greatest contribution we have made to the thought and welfare of the world." It has inspired millions of people from every corner of the globe to come here in search of liberty and opportunity.But the financial crisis, housing bust and Great Recession have caused more of us to worry that the American dream is out of ...